Before Xiao Chengjun could react, there was already a warm body in his arms. It was flexible and slender, with a faint fragrance of grass and trees. His Highness the Prince froze instantly.

The prince's dress was made of fine silk and was very soft. Lou Jing put her face on his shoulder, hugged the prince's narrow waist, yawned and said, "You and I are married, honor and disgrace."

It doesn't matter if I suffer some losses, as long as Your Highness gives me some compensation from time to time."

Compensation, is this kind of compensation...? Xiao Chengjun lowered his head and looked at the beautiful person in his arms. He was naturally willing to give such compensation. He said "Okay" softly, and His Highness the Prince froze.

His arms slowly lifted up and hugged the person hanging on him.

Lou Jing smiled and buried her face in Xiao Chengjun's shoulder, closing her eyes with peace of mind. He had to enjoy a cushion like the crown prince's, which a rich man could not ask for.

For a while, the only sound left in the chariot was the sound of horses' hooves and wheels crushing the sand. Xiao Chengjun slowly relaxed, carefully avoiding the injury on Lou Jing's back, and hugged him to make him more comfortable. This

A person is married to him, not just a subject. As a husband, he should respect him and love him. It is wrong to blame him for causing him to suffer wrongs with him. His Highness the Crown Prince reviewed himself in his heart and decided that in the future

Be kind to the Crown Princess,

After traveling for half an hour, the chariot stopped and Anshun whispered from outside the curtain: "Your Highness, the Ancestral Temple has arrived."

"Well," Xiao Chengjun responded. He did not ask anyone to open the curtain, but gently shook the sleeping guy in his arms, "Zhuoyu, wake up."

Lou Jing was having a sweet dream. He dreamed that his mother had steamed him a half-human-high rabbit bun and said, "Jing'er, let me make this a pillow for you." He felt comfortable holding the bun, but the bed kept shaking.

He couldn't sleep well, so he could only hug the big steamed bun in his arms tightly so that the shock would be less severe.

"Wake up." His Royal Highness looked helplessly at the person who was holding him tighter and swaying in his arms. He could only use his hand to squeeze his face. Unexpectedly, the plush head actually rubbed against his shoulder, softly.

Soft and itchy...

"Hmm..." Lou Jing reluctantly rubbed the big steamed bun. When he opened his eyes, he saw that his big steamed bun had turned into Xiao Chengjun.

The two people looked at each other with big eyes and small eyes, and they were both a little stunned for a moment.

"Your Highness, the Yulin Army has already lined up." Anshun urged again.

They immediately separated and sat down. Xiao Chengjun coughed slightly and asked Anshun to open the curtain.

The Imperial Ancestral Temple is located in the eastern suburbs and covers a large area.

Entering the main entrance, there is a quite vast flat land, with a carved dragon royal road in the middle leading directly to the main hall. On both sides are the Yulin Army, standing solemnly with bronze halberds. The bells and drums are ringing, Shao music is melodious, and the Yulin Army is on both sides.

Hundreds of dancers dance to a special rhythm, full of solemnity and sacredness.

The emperor and empress walked in front. Lou Jing and Xiao Chengjun stood on both sides of the emperor and empress, each half a step back. The nobles and officials were lined up behind the ceremonial guard. When they arrived in front of the main hall, there was a man wearing a complicated dress.

The person stood at the foot of the jade steps, and when the emperor stopped and knelt down to salute, he was the person who was conducting the ceremony today.

Lou Jing glanced at that person and couldn't help being shocked. It turned out to be Shen Lian, the chamberlain supervisor again! Several jagged breathing sounds came out from the civil servant's side, and there was an undetectable cold snort from the nobleman.

Worshiping ancestors in the Imperial Ancestral Temple is an extremely solemn matter for the royal family. Since ancient times, the person who officiates must be a civil servant with both morals and moral integrity. In ancient times, there was a special official position, but I have never heard of letting a eunuch serve as the officiant in the Imperial Ancestral Temple.

Damn, this is too childish.

Lou Jing couldn't help but look at Xiao Chengjun. His Royal Highness seemed to feel something. He turned his face slightly and gave him a calm look, then lowered his eyes again, as if he didn't see anything.

Emperor Chunde naturally knew this a long time ago and asked Shen Lian to get up nonchalantly.

"Your Majesty!" Before Shen Lian could speak, Yushi Geng Zhuo had already strode forward and knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, the Imperial Ancestral Temple is the place where emperors of the Yu Dynasty worship. The royal ancestral temple cannot allow eunuchs to serve as ceremony officials!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the drumming and music stopped, and the scene immediately became silent, and you could hear the drop of a needle. Shen Lian's expression did not change, no one from the officials except the censor made a sound, and the nobles turned a deaf ear.

"The Minister of Internal Affairs is also the Royal Master of Ceremonies, why not?" Emperor Chunde frowned. Shen Lian had told him a few days ago that he wanted to be the Chief of Ceremonies at the Imperial Ancestral Temple. It was not a big deal, so how could the Censor say this? Like he did something extremely stupid?

"Your Majesty! The emperor is the son of heaven. How can an eunuch be allowed to shout at the place where the ancestors of the Xiao family are enshrined?" Geng Zhuo straightened his neck and shouted at the top of his lungs.

When Shen Lian heard the word "eunuch", his face quickly darkened. Emperor Chunde was also a little embarrassed to get off the stage. Could it be possible that Shen Lian should be asked to take off his dress now?

"Your Majesty, the auspicious time is approaching. Today the prince is getting married. It's best not to waste the time." Chen Shichang, the right minister, came out of the procession and said solemnly.

Zhao Duan, the left prime minister, glanced at Chen Shichang and lowered his eyes without saying a word.

The right minister's words were very meaningful. Emperor Chunde nodded when he heard the words and raised his feet to go up the jade steps.

"Your Majesty!" Geng Zhuo knelt in front of the jade steps without giving in, "If Your Majesty does not change the ceremonial officer, I will never be able to kneel down!"

"Master Geng didn't tell you earlier, and he didn't say it until later. He didn't say it until now. Isn't this embarrassing the emperor?" Shen Lian sneered.

When Emperor Chunde heard this, he immediately felt that he was right, and snorted coldly: "If you want to kneel, then kneel." After saying that, he bypassed Geng Zhuo and went directly up the jade steps, and everyone behind him followed him. Everyone thinks that the censor is like a stone, and it goes around like water flowing over a stone.

Shen Lian smiled and followed the emperor up the jade steps, stood on the high platform where the ceremonial officer was standing, and began to sing loudly with his thin voice.

Who loses and who wins will be judged.

Lou Jing glanced at the censor who was struck by lightning, then lowered his eyes and followed the queen up the jade steps. Although the censor was right, no one argued for him.

The Imperial Ancestral Temple enshrines all the emperors of the Yu Dynasty since the founding of the People's Republic of China. Every time they offer sacrifices to heaven, their ancestors' tablets are taken out and placed in the front hall for worship.

After the complicated heaven-sacrifice ceremony, the emperor and the empress would take the newly married prince and princess into the inner hall and kneel before the portraits of the emperors and empresses of the past generations.

After Taizu and Taizong, starting from Shizong, all queens were men. Lou Jing knelt down one by one and found that the portraits of the emperors and empresses were all similar, with majestic wrinkles on their faces. She quietly glanced at Xiao Chengjun beside her, and saw that the Xiao family members were clearly different. He looks handsome, but those painters don't know what they think. Do they have to paint people old and ugly to look like an emperor?

He didn't dare to say anything else. The late Emperor Ruizong, whom Lou Jing had met when he was a child, was still as charming as he was in his sixtieth year. He was not as old as in the portrait.

After kowtowing three times to each ancestor, Lou Jing would have fallen down again if he had not taken the anesthetic. After kowtowing to the last one - Emperor Ruizhong, Lou Jing stood up and felt a little dizzy. He secretly murmured to himself that if the Xiao family passed on for another hundred years, the emperor would have to carry it out of the Ancestral Temple every year to offer sacrifices to heaven.

When they left, Geng Zhuo was still kneeling on the spot. The sun had already risen to the middle, illuminating that upright face, making it look more angular.

"Your Majesty, the ceremony is over, why don't you ask the censor to get up?" The queen stood on the jade steps and persuaded in a low voice.

It was a rule set by Taizu not to serve as an unspeakable official. With Geng Zhuo kneeling like this, Emperor Chunde was a little embarrassed to get off the stage. Hearing this, he nodded and waved his hand for the eunuch Huaizhong, the chief eunuch next to him, to pull the censor. stand up.

Huaizhong went to pull Geng Zhuo back with a smile. Unexpectedly, Geng Zhuo didn't buy it at all. He shook off Huaizhong's hand, walked a few steps to Emperor Chunde, and said in a hoarse voice: "Your Majesty, the Ancestral Temple of the Imperial Ancestral Temple is not a child's play! Let the eunuchs be tolerated today! There will be chaos in the Imperial Ancestral Temple tomorrow, Your Majesty!"

"Then what are you going to do?" Emperor Chunde was really annoyed now. The sacrifice to heaven was over, but this man was still holding on to him. What on earth was going to happen?

"I ask the emperor to punish Shen Lian for entering the Ancestral Temple without permission!" Geng Zhuo put his head on the ground, looking like he would rather die than surrender.

"You..." Emperor Chunde was trembling with anger.

Shen Lian walked down from the high platform and said slowly: "Mr. Geng, have you made a mistake? The emperor is the king of a country. What is your intention in forcing the emperor like this?"

"Hmph, come here, pull Geng Zhuo down for me!" Emperor Chunde waved his sleeves, and immediately the Yulin army picked up the censor and dragged him away.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!" Geng Zhuo struggled and shouted.

Emperor Chunde turned a deaf ear and walked straight forward. Since ancient times, there was nothing he could do without killing officials, but he could only move out of the way.

All the officials watched in silence as Geng Zhuo was dragged away. The queen lowered her eyes, said no more, and followed Emperor Chunde into the chariot.

On the way back, Lou Jing and Xiao Chengjun were both a little silent. Emperor Chunde was becoming more and more insistent on his own way. He only listened to good words but not advice. In such a court, sooner or later something would happen.

It was already noon when he returned to the East Palace. Xiao Chengjun ordered the rice to be placed in the Eight Phoenix Hall and ate with Lou Jing.

"The royal family will come to visit you in the afternoon. Please take a nap after lunch." Xiao Chengjun looked at Lou Jing who was not energetic and said warmly.

Lou Jing nodded. He was mainly hungry. He ate three crystal buns and drank a small bowl of porridge in the morning. He went to the Ancestral Temple to kowtow in circles. He was so hungry that he was dizzy and too lazy to say anything. .

After the meal was set, Le Xian and Anshun stood behind them to prepare the dishes. Lou Jing picked up the chopsticks and started to eat. Unexpectedly, as soon as he picked up a piece of fish, it fell back into the bowl with a "snap".

Le Xian was startled and quickly took a cloth to wipe him.

Lou Jing was also stunned, and then she remembered that her hands were still numb. How could such a delicate object as chopsticks be used?

Xiao Chengjun frowned, waved his servants to retreat, and put a spoon into his bowl, "Use this."
Chapter completed!